SAS completes acquisition of Cimber

SAS is completing the acquisition of Cimber after meeting all of the terms of the transaction, including approval from the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority. SAS has appointed Kent Hansen as the new president of the airline. He will succeed the current president on March 1, 2015.

On December 8, 2014, SAS announced that it had agreed to acquire 100% of the shares in Cimber, that the value of the transaction was MDKK 20 and that the transaction was subject to customary terms including receiving approval from the Danish competition authority.

The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority has notified its approval of SAS’s acquisition of Cimber. In parallel, the remaining terms of the agreement have been met and, accordingly, SAS’s acquisition of Cimber can now be completed.

“With formal approval now in place, we look forward to making rapid progress in establishing the company as an efficient airline specializing in regional air traffic. We will build a simple, focused and flexible organization that is able to deliver SAS’s well-known product to our customers with punctuality, service and many departures,” says SAS President and CEO Rickard Gustafson.

For the position of president and role of accountable manager, SAS has recruited Kent Hansen from the Danish Transport Authority where he is Head of Division at the Centre for Aviation. His appointment as accountable manager is dependent on approval from the authorities. SAS has also appointed Kjetil Grønevik as Finance Director.

As previously announced, the acquisition means an opportunity for SAS to transfer production by its 12 CRJ900s to Cimber, thereby, allowing more focused and flexible production to be achieved. The transfer is planned to be completed on 1 March, 2015.